I was super excited to read this novel, being a fan of afrofuturism and many incarnations, and even more ecstatic when Netgalley approved my request! So like Snoopy doing the happy dance, I dived into this audiobook expecting tales of body-mind transfers, maybe some cloning, perhaps some mind control, who knows? What I got instead was an overly lengthy novel with lots of great ideas that twisted and turned, lost the plot, got bogged down in something else, and then fell off pace.

It got worse when I began to realize that I hated the main character, Nelah, who seemed overly self-righteous, self-sacrificing, woe-is-me but I still sleep around and do drugs and you can't kill me, nah! All of this while the plot is zig-zagging everywhere. If I had a physical copy, I would have skimmed some sections, but speeding up an audiobook makes the characters sound like Alvin or Simon from the Chipmunks.

Ultimately I was disappointed in the book and am not happy to give a novel with such promise a low rating. But, I thought this book was kak, as Nelah would say, and I was glad when it finally ended.

Womb City is a sci-fi dystopian horror story that explores personhood, identity, marital issues, medical trauma, motherhood, and so much more. A woman with a body of a criminal feels trapped in a life controlled by her overbearing husband and a government that can literally view her thoughts and actions. And if anyone even suspects that she could commit a crime, then her mind will be imprisoned and her borrowed body turned over for another mind to inhabit.

This is an dark story line that quickly spirals down as bad choices are made, people abuse their power, corruption abounds, and the spirit of a murdered woman comes for the one who did her wrong. While the plot moves swiftly, it is also a very internal novel, focusing on our main character’s thoughts and feelings, even those she tries to hide from anyone else. Also, the world building is fantastic: all the features of the surveillance state and tech used to transfer minds and bodies are explained well, but without too much detail. It adds to the story, rather than distracting from it.

I’m not gonna lie, this book gets darker than I normally go and I have to take breaks between reads. Trigger warnings for gore a little less than a third of the way through, as well murder, adultery, and general body horror.

That said, I think it’s a really cool take on the classic question of what it means to be a person, a mother, a wife, a daughter, etc. It also explores the horrors that happen when someone looses track of themself and must face the consequences of their actions, and, more often, when others try to exert undue control over someone else. Bad news all around. Sci-Fi horror lovers, go forth and read!

I found this one really hard to get into. The premise behind it was interesting, and I wanted very badly to like it. But it was written in an oddly choppy, disjointed way. It reminded me slightly of Marlon James' style of writing, but it wasn't as well done. It made the book hard to navigate and follow. It also made it incredibly hard to stay interested in parts.

I listened to the book via audiobook, and I constantly found myself having to back up and rewind to replay certain sections because I either didn't understand what was going on or had just completely zoned out due to disinterest.

The "twist" at the end was somewhat unexpected, and that part turned the book around enough for me that I gave it 2 stars instead of 1, but all in all, this one just wasn't the book for me.

I DID appreciate seeing black voices in sci-fi, though, as that isn't something I see often. A black female voice was even more impressive. For those reasons, I actually hate that my review couldn't be more favorable because I totally encourage more diversity in writing. I'm going to chock it up as just not being for me and wish this author all the best.

Living in a technologically advanced future Botswana, Nelah has a great job, but her consciousness has been placed in the body of a criminal. She has no memory of her two past lives or of her body's previous residents. But because of her body's criminal past, her memories and actions are recorded and monitored by her husband and government. She long for a child, but being unable to carry, they are trying an external womb. As she rages under the societal constraints on her body, her singular focus is how to protect her growing child and the lengths she is willing to do so.

This was okay. The pacing felt weird and it took a long time for the action to pick up and for me to get interested. I wanted to like this more than I did because the premise and world hold a lot of promise. There was a lot of world building that could've been tightened up because there were a lot of moving parts that didn't necessarily all come together cleanly. I was surprised when this took such a big turn into the folklore realm and quite a bit of ghost/monster and body horror. The story is pretty bleak and horrifying. And I couldn't decide if it was gratuitous or just a reflection of our bleak world. Overall, the reveal at the end, while not surprising, was satisfying.

Thank you to RB Media and netgalley for the advanced copy of the book!

(i'm new to NetGally and I've never had a DNF before. I've learned a bit more about how to share feedback more constructively. I hope these updates are helpful)

Unfortunately, this one was a DNF for me. While the premise was promising and the cover work was stunning, I struggled to connect with this read.
I suspect that some of the trouble is with the narrator. While clearly talented, I do not think she found a tone that was particularly engaging. I find that especially when audiences are being asked to reach a bit and take on a fair amount of exposition and world building elements at once, connecting with the reader to keep them engaged is a must and unfortunately for me, this voice didn't hold me.
Additionally, while I personally do not mind unlikable characters, I did not find a single one endearing or interesting enough to stay invested in the read. In the end I just did not find enough to hold on to. The premise and the world were intriguing but I didn't care enough about the characters to stay and find out how they navigated here.

Womb City was harrowing, explosive, and kept me up at night. It made me want to scream in the streets, made me want to burn things down and start again. An absolutely unflinching exploration of womanhood in capitalism and patriarchy.

Unfortunately I had to DNF at 75%.
I really tried to love this book. The narrator, Christel Mutombo, is amazing and I really brought the emotion out for the characters. However, this book is trying to be a lot of things, it's sci-fi, it's horror, it's futurism, it's a feminist manifesto, a critical look at partner abuse and also a political conspiracy. It was so full that it didn't feel cohesive.

Our female main character starts off as traditionally 'good', trying to live by the many rules society has put out for her. However, once she breaks from her safe routine, she really goes off the rails and I am here to support women's wrongs. She becomes unlikeable very quickly and I'm here for it. The main issue I had is that she tries to murder a woman, then buries her alive, but afterwards has multiple long internal monologues about how women are repressed in this world and how we need to lift each other up. I'm not sure if the author meant this cognitive dissonance to show how out of touch our main character is (she thinks she's 'good' and everyone else is bad), but it didn't feel authentic for me either way.

I hope this book finds it's audience, I just wasn't it.

This was a very unique horror/sci-fi/dystopian novel. I loved the poetic writing in the book, but found the it starting to drag at the end with the murder trials. Loved the concepts and ideas discussed in the novel. So cool. Very excited to read other works by this author.

Takes place in future Botswana where people's consciousness can be replanted into a new body. Many of these 'donated' bodies have come from criminals as pressed by the government but some are donated bodies. All have chips in them that are reviewed to make sure the body's criminal, or other undesirable (like queer or adulterous) ways are monitored. The government decides who gets these bodies and the most coveted are the ones able to have children, another process regulated by the government. Nela is one of these people whose body and consciousness do not match. She does not want the life she has been given. She is having an affair and yet desperately does not want to lose her daughter. A night out with her chip wiped leads to an accidental murder and now she will do anything to cover it up. She thinks she's getting away with it until the ghost of the dead woman begins to taunt her and threaten her family.

This is Handmaid's Tale meets The Test meets Pet Semetary. It's futuristic with supernatural elements, it's complex and full of ethical and moral dilemmas that leave you pondering. The pace is quick and while it takes a little while for the world building to come together, once you find your footing, it's easy to feel your pulse pounding with Nela's.

Thanks to RB Media for gifted access to this audiobook. All opinions above are my own.

I love dystopian fiction and I was even more excited when I saw that it was set in futuristic Botswana. The world that Tsamasse sets up is terrifying. The level of control that the government has over people and the level of control husbands have over their wives is chilling. Our MC is a complex person making some not-so-great choices that leave them tied up with a vengeful spirit. This book covers a ton of space and subject matter and considering it’s a debut, I’m extremely impressed by the ambition. That said, I felt that the book was a bit rushed. Nothing had space to breathe. We jump from one high impact moment to the next without any time to process anything. Overall, the concept was good, but I think this would’ve been much better as a trilogy or even a duology. I do look forward to seeing what Tsamasse comes up with next as they clearly have skill and creative plot ideas.

The dystopian of this sounded fantastic but the execution left me underwhelmed. The story was just very slow and dry. I found myself struggling to stay immersed. I may try this one again as a physical book because I really want to love this one.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

This book was a wild ride! The premise for this was brilliant, a cross between Minority Report and Inception with themes of racism, sexism and political conspiracies, this should have been right up my alley!

There were parts that I really enjoyed, and I found the horror elements brilliantly spooky. However for me it was just too much. To many themes and messages on top of a very complex plot meant that I quite often just felt a bit confused. I think that is as much a reflection of me as a reader as it is of the book. I prefer things to unravel at a slower pace, and this is the kind of book that doesn't stop to let you catch your breath.

So overall not for me, but I think it will appeal to many other readers. I am also very keen to see what Tsamaase does next.

The body horror and sci fi elements in womb city were done incredibly well . I enjoyed the narration as well and cannot wait to purchase a copy .
Thank you netgalley for the eArc .

I listened to this on audiobook. I liked the narrator but she read so incredibly slow. Typically I speed my audiobooks to 1.25. I had to hit 1.5 just to listen at a normal reading pace.

The story overall had a lot going on. It was very futuristic. It went through so much in describing that I think it lost some interest. It was decently written. Very sci-fi with the body hopping and multiple lives.

I've really struggled to write a review of this book. I will admit that I was unable to finish it, but this was due to the audiobook file I received stopping working at around the 75% mark.
Because if this, my review will be based on what I was able to listen to.
First of all, the writing of this book was beautifully done. The prose was fluid and engaging, whilst still being accessible, and it is clear that the author put a lot of effort into this. That being said, it was hard to maintain an interest in the story as the pacing was very hit and miss. It shifted between moving sluggishly to very fast-paced without much warning, and I found this jarring.
The premise of the story was really intriguing. and so I was so excited when I got approved for an arc of it, but I just didn't gel with it. The body-hopping and the censorship of the female body was a really interesting idea for me, but I feel like the poignancy of it got lost. The narrative felt meandering without a real drive to the point, and I think that the author tried to cram too many important themes in. All of the themes she incorporated are really interesting, and would make a good novel, but it felt that by having all of them in here, it was difficult to be able to really get invested in any of the problems that she highlighted.
The audibook narrator for it was great though, and I will definitely seek out other books that she has narrated as I loved her voice and narration style.
All in all, I feel that this book fell a bit flat, and I was left feeling disappointed. That being said, it may be that the last 25% of the story that I wasn't able to listen to makes up for all of this, but to be honest, I can't imagine that it does.

Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for sending me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Womb City is a dystopian futuristic sci-fi set in Botswana with a horror twist. In this world, you live a 210-year lifespan by body hopping, that is having your consciousness transplanted into a host body by the Body Hope Facility. There are low levels of crime, particularly homicide and every Sunday at dusk human corpse-detecting chemicals are sprayed into the air, revealing any murders which have occurred over the previous week. If you are unlucky you end up with a body which has previously been involved in crime. In that case, you have an operating system implanted in your brainstem to prevent criminal recidivism by monitoring your every move, thought and feeling. Nelah is one such unfortunate although she is a successful architect, she is in a loveless and childless marriage and begins to look elsewhere, finding ways to mislead the chip and hide from its monitoring.

Whilst I really loved the concept of mixing futuristic dystopia and horror, the execution could have been better. There is quite a lot to take in about this new world and at the start, this was at a reasonable pace, then not much happened for a while until there was a huge information dump in chapter 31. I felt some of these concepts could have been explained earlier whilst still keeping plenty for a big reveal. At 80% I had to go back to 60% and re-listen, which helped the rest of the book make much more sense.

*SPOILERS*

Useful concepts to understand when you get to 75%

Microchipped persons who are due to get their chip removed are put to a test - The Murder Trial to see how they react under pressure when they think no one is watching. That’s how the government determine microchip removal. If you fail the test you must deal with the return of your dead victim, through Motseyeng they will return and kill your whole family unless you stop them. There is still a chance to get through this if you stop the victim from completing this process.

The Murder Trials - a city-sanctioned cultural heritage and purification ritual that every person with a microchip undergoes. The victim of the murder sets the rules that emanate from Motseyeng (sp.), a historically magical watering hole that demands blood from human sacrifice.

*END OF SPOILERS*


Overall I did enjoy this, I just found parts of it very confusing at times. 3.5/5 but with a lot of potential, I will be keeping an eye out for future work from this author.

If you like Noughts+Crosses, Jordan Peele movies or Black Mirror you might enjoy this.

The narrator does a great job bringing characters to life and keeping you engaged with the storyline. I think if the narrator hadn’t done such a good job I would have ended up a lot more confused than I did.

Thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for an ARC of this book. The narration of the audiobook is great.

"Womb City" is Tlotlo Tsamaase's debut novel, and it is my first time reading their work. The basic premise presents a dystopian world that (like every dystopia) presents itself as a utopia, but the oppressive structure that already (and has always) exists is heightened with a new suite of tools for a few to hold power over the many. Tsamaase’s novel pulls from many of the ideas that have been explored before in speculative fiction, but where this novel stands out is in its multidisciplinary approach, weaving together cyberpunk sci-fi with supernatural horrors. Tsamaase’s writing is rich and engaging in a way that just pulled me straight into this world in way that sets it up as a potential all time favorite. Sadly, this is Tsamaase’s first novel, and that shows in some key, if not detrimental, ways.

Set in a future where technology binds as much as it liberates, Tsamaase presents a world that is as wondrous as it is terrifying. Cyborg enhancements and body swapping are commonplace, allowing for prolonged lives and an escape from death. Crime is lower than it ever has been, but the cost is a hierarchical and authoritarian regime, characterized by a militarized state with strict surveillance, regulation of technology, and manipulation of biological processes. Individuals who do not conform become suspect, and this means gender roles are rigidly defined and policed. Altogether, the interplay of technology and society raises important questions about the ethics of scientific advancement and the price of utopia, with Womb City acting as a reflection of some of our highest hopes and the possible costs of seeing them come to fruition.

Naledi is our central character: a closely monitored cyborg who inhabits a body whose first host lost their right to have it when they committed some unknown crime. One of Naledi’s central motivations is to be a mother, but her past (or specifically her body’s past) sets her up with multiple obstacles, including regular minority report-esk check ins to ensure she is not criminally prone. A central thesis in this book is the question of bodily autonomy—an idea brought to new depths this society moves from one body to another. It also raises questions of identity, going so far as to challenge her own identity as a woman in subtle ways throughout the story.

On the surface, the structure of this world seems reasonable. Crime is at an all-time low, but what becomes increasingly clear is how the enforcement of these techniques is only so far as they can hold up and propagate existing inequalities. There are clear connections to over-policing and the prison industrial complex, among other ideas. It does not upend the current structure, one that focuses on punishment rather than ending the reasons people resort to crime (inequalities, poverty, etc., see Angela Davis’s Freedom is a Constant Struggle). It instead amplifies it.
This, coupled with the excellent writing and supernatural sci-fi horrors really makes this book stand out in all the best ways. I can honestly say, I get excited just writing this review for all that this book does and even the things it strives and fails to do. I applaud the ambition and can largely look past its failures because of how engrossed I was in the book.

The ultimate failure of Womb City is in how Tsamaase handles its themes. They are beyond heavy handed. Every idea this book is interested in exploring is explicitly discussed by exposition or in the thoughts of our protagonist. It is at its worst in the set up and conclusion of the novel, where the themes and story are being set up and resolved. In that sense, it isn’t an overarching problem, but it is a major one. Tsamaase simply does not have enough faith in their reader. In some sense, I can sympathize, but by spoon feeding, you fundamentally undercut the effectiveness of the narrative.

Many people found Tsamaase’s handling of the themes detrimental to the overall story, but I do not agree. Tsamaase is an extremely talented author who has constructed a fascinating and compelling narrative that stands out from everything that clearly inspired it. It may be heavy handed, but I think you are doing yourself a disservice if you skip it for that reason. Meanwhile, I will be eagerly waiting for Tsamaase’s next release, and hopefully they will have learned from their mistakes here.

This narrative unfolds in a strikingly unique setting, immersing readers into a dystopian rendition of Botswana where the practice of 'body hopping' reigns supreme—where consciousness seamlessly transfers between bodies across lifetimes. Within this societal framework, individuals implanted with microchips endure heightened scrutiny due to perceived criminal proclivities. The clandestine Murder Trial sector, shrouded in secrecy, aims to curb crime. Enter Nelah, a microchipped individual who perpetrates a crime and is subsequently plagued by haunting repercussions. As she endeavours to quell these spectral disturbances, chilling revelations about the government's Murder Trials come to light. The narrative, replete with unexpected twists and turns, evolves into a gripping horror-thriller, leaving readers on edge until its culmination. While the storytelling brims with creativity, it occasionally meanders with repetitive reflections from the protagonist, particularly during the middle portion, where excessive detail on the mechanics of body hopping and microchip functionality threatens to disengage. Nevertheless, the narrative threads neatly towards a satisfying resolution, defying initial doubts and delivering a cohesive conclusion.
While its originality and suspenseful narrative kept me engaged initially and it does have its merits I don't feel compelled to visit it again or suggest it to others.

Oh man this book packed a punch. Set in a futuristic "Big Brother-esque" cyberpunk Botswana. There were very few themes this author didn't try to cover. That in the end is why it ended up just being a 3 star read for me. There was just too much happening, and I feel like it caused the story to suffer. With so many things being thrown at you: husband controlled microchips, consciousness swapping, robotic wombs, female rights, inheritance, body autonomy, class systems, justice systems, etc. It all just started to blend together after a while, with nothing getting its fair time in the sun.

I look forward to what Tsamaase will put out after they get a few more books under their belts, but for now I will say I appreciated that our main character was complex. I get sick of female leads being special, uniquely beautiful, and or naïve. This one wasn't likeable, but she felt more real, even with a bionic arm!

Thank you to RB Media and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

An impressive and engaging debut book for Tlotlo Tsamaase that earned one of few 5 star reviews from me this year. Definitely a book that has me looking forward to any future releases. This is one of those books that I'd love to see turned into a movie. I do wish the beginning of the book was a bit faster paced because the world building seemed to drag on. About half way through the book though we get into a beautiful area where there's consistent action and a lot of engagement between the characters. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and would love to have my memory wiped so I could enjoy it for the first time all over again!